To allow appropriate research on classic hallucinogens, Rucker gives evidence that supports removing them from the strictest of legal classifications, arguably the greatest barrier to research.

Psychedelics are more legally restricted than heroin or cocaine, “but no evidence indicates that psychedelic drugs are habit forming,” Rucker writes, “little evidence indicates that they are harmful in controlled settings; and much historical evidence shows that they could have use in common psychiatric disorders.” The unnecessarily restrictive legal environment means clinical research using psychedelics "costs 5-10 times that of research into less restricted [but more harmful] drugs such as heroin."

UK psychiatrist James Rucker makes an argument for rescheduling psychedelics in this month's British Medical Journal, pointing to LSD and psilocybin's potential to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, tobacco and alcohol addiction, cluster headaches, and anxiety associated with cancer and terminal illness.

Give us your thoughts in the comments section below or start a thread in our forums.

Novel psychoactive compounds for treating mental illness have been few and far between the last 30 years, which emphasizes the importance of incorporating time-tested non-Western means of treating mental illness, stress, and addiction. Advocates for integrative mental health programs include the David Lynch Foundation, Botanical Dimensions, ICEERS, Patrick Kennedy's One Mind, and One Mind Institute.

~ ~ Spiritual Healers ~ ~

"Phil Borges’and Kevin Tomlinson’s new documentary 'CRAZYWISE’ is a game changer. It’s going to be an important step forward in starting the long overdue conversation on how we define and treat mental illness in America.”– Rick Steves, Our Favorite World Traveler

Pioneering research in the last decade supported by Heffter Research Institute (US), MAPS (US), and the Beckley Foundation(UK) provide some of the strongest evidence so far for reclassifying these historically significant substances and making them available for mental health research.

PRISM, recently founded in Australia, is a similarly-modeled organization that researches a range of diseases for which conventional medicines provide limited relief.

Ayahuasca is another classic hallucinogen that is currently being researched. World-renowned addiction and palliative medicine doctor Gabor Maté explores the potential of classic hallucinogen(N,N-dimethyltryptamine, or DMT)-containing sacramental tea ayahuasca for treating opiate addiction David Suzuki's "Nature of Things."

Johns Hopkins University addiction pharmacologist Roland Griffiths, recipient of a $463,000 psychedelics research grantfrom the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), gives a candid interview that meditation and explains his motivation for studying sacred plant compounds psilocybin, DMT, and Salvinorin A.

With billions of dollars going toward the 'BRAIN Initiative' (USA), 'Human Connectome Project' (USA), & 'Human Brain Project' (EU), now is the time to expand research of consciousness and mental health using classic hallucinogens, also known as 'psychedelics,' 'serotonergic hallucinogens,' or 'entheogens.' Consciousness determines personality. It determines how we view ourselves, others, and the world.

The term 'entheogen' is related to classic hallucinogens' unique ability to induce a mystical or spiritual experience. Spirituality is important part of recover programs such as Alcoholics Anonymousand the everyday well-being of people across cultures, so why are psychedelics such a taboo subject? Misconceptions and use that does not involve proper ritual, set, and setting are partly to blame.For the sake of mental health, Americans should embrace the rescheduling of classic hallucinogens to allow proper research into their benefit. With our poor understanding of the brain, fully incorporating archaic mental health practices with Western psychiatry could help alleviate the everyday mental and existential suffering of millions of Americans.